Tree Fruit Newsletter — October 1, 2024
In this newsletter:
- Maturity Report
- New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference announcement
- Fall Herbicide Reminders, excerpted from the CCE-ENYCHP newsletter
Maturity Report
McIntosh has reached a stage where drop has occurred in orchards not treated with ReTain or Harvista. Trees that have not been harvested yet have 40% drop.
Cortland ripening has reached a stage that is good for long-term storage. This variety is prone to superficial scald and bitter pit.
Gala at Highmoor Farm is over ripe. Skin greasiness has started and water core in some apples.
Honeycrisp not treated with ReTain is now over ripe. When harvested at a late stage of maturity, quality loss in storage is likely when held longer than two months. MCP (SmartFresh, Hazel) will delay this. Honeycrisp is susceptible to severe chilling injury in storage, so conditioning is critical now, and may not be fully effective.
Honeycrisp is sensitive to the elevated carbon dioxide that occurs in controlled atmosphere storage. Other varieties are also sensitive when treated with SmartFresh® or Hazel®. Be sure to include enough lime in your CA rooms. Diphenylamine (No-Scald®) will increase tolerance to carbon dioxide in CA storage, but it’s best to keep carbon dioxide below 1% in the first month of CA storage.
Reminder: When conditioning Honeycrisp in an enclosed room, the oxygen concentration can decrease to the point where human suffocation can occur. Ventilate these rooms before entering.
Fuji and Evercrisp are not yet ready to pick for storage and probably not for immediate sales, either. They are still very firm and not fully flavored. Rosalee, another new variety from the Midwest Apple Improvement Association, was picked last week. We also picked Triumph last week for long-term storage. Somerset and MN1734 were too ripe for storage.
| Variety | September 5 | September 10 | September 16 | September 24 | October 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gala (Fulford) | 2.2 | 3.2 | 3.0 | 4.7 | 7.4 |
| McIntosh (Roger’s) | 3.6 | 4.5 | 4.7 | — | 6.7 |
| Macspur | 3.9 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 5.9 | 6.6 |
| Honeycrisp | 2.8 | 4.2 | 4.8 | 7.5 | 8.0 |
| Royal Red Cortland | — | — | 1.2 | 1.4 | 3.1 |
| Macoun | — | — | — | 2.4 | 3.2 |
| Fuji | — | — | — | — | 2.4 |
| Evercrisp | — | — | — | — | 1.5 |
| Northern Spy | — | — | — | — | 2.3 |
The following is a rough guide to what the starch index numbers mean for apple ripening:
1 – 2 indicates lack of starch breakdown and generally unripe.
3 – 4 indicates some sweetness developing and generally partially ripe.
5 – 6 indicates good flavor and ready for general harvest.
7 – 8 indicates fully ripe.
| Variety | September 5 | September 10 | September 16 | September 23 | October 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gala (Fulford) | 0.76 | 0.70 | 0.55 | 0.11 | 0.07 |
| Honeycrisp | 1.12 | 0.88 | 1.04 | 0.56 | 0.34 |
A measure of chlorophyll breakdown in the peel and change in ground color from green to yellow. Numbers decrease as fruits ripen. Gala and Honeycrisp readings between 0.8 and 0.3 indicate sufficient maturity for storage. Standards for other varieties have not been determined.
New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference and Trade Show Set for December 17-19, 2024
The New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference and Trade Show will take place on December 17, 18, and 19 at the Doubletree by Hilton Manchester Downtown in Manchester, NH. The event will feature 30 educational sessions over three days, focusing on key topics related to vegetable, berry, and tree fruit crops. The tree fruit sessions include a general session on apples, a general session on stone fruits, and a second apple session focusing on new technologies in the orchard. The NEVFC programming is concentrated towards retail-oriented orchards with farmstands, pick your own operations, cideries, and other direct to consumer sales.
Visit New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference home page for registration and accommodation details. Early bird registration discount ends Nov 30th.
Sponsors
The event is Sponsored by the New England Vegetable & Berry Growers’ Association and the Massachusetts Fruit Growers’ Association in conjunction with the Universities of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, as well as Cornell University, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association and the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.
Contacts
Registration: Shuresh Ghimire, UConn; 860-870-6933; shuresh.ghimire@uconn.edu
General questions: Sue Scheufele 508-397-3361; sscheufele@umext.umass.edu
Tree Fruit session questions: Mike Basedow 518 410 6823; mrb254@cornell.edu
Fall Orchard Herbicide Reminders
Mike Basedow, CCE-ENYCHP, Eastern NY; and Janet van Zoeren, CCE-LOFP, Western NY
As harvest season is winding down, we want to recommend that you consider a fall herbicide application (if the weather remains favorable post-harvest). We have just published our updated fall herbicide recommendations on the Eastern New York blog.
Renae Moran
University of Maine Cooperative Extension: Tree Fruits
PO Box 179
Monmouth, ME 04259
(207) 933-2100
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